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Le programme AQUASTAT a été entrepris dans le but de présenter un tableau exhaustif des ressources en eau et de l'irrigation dans les pays en développement. L'étude a été réalisée principalement à partir de données nationales, schémas directeurs, et études sectorielles. L'étude a déjà couvert les 53 pays africains, et est publiée en edition bilingue dans la série "Rapports sur l'Eau", numero 7: "Irrigation in Africa in Figures / L'irrigation en Afrique en Chiffres".
Vous pouvez visiter notre site Internet aux adresses
suivantes:
Http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/agricult/agl/aglw/aquastat/aquastat.htm
ou
Gopher://gopher.fao.org, et choisissez "Information from the
FAO", puis "AQUASTAT". Contact pour plus d'informations: JeanMarc.Faures@FAO.ORG
GLASOD (Global assessment of human-induced soil degradation), a map originally prepared by UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) and ISRIC (International Soil Reference and Information Centre) with FAO assistance, shows the actual status of human-induced soil degradation for the world based on expert opinion. This map has been digitized and a menu-driven computer program has been written to generate (postage-size) coloured maps on-screen and tabular data on the degradation status of the world soils by cause and type. A Beta version is already available; we'll keep you informed on progress.
Contact : Freddy.Nachtergaele@FAO.ORG
The Digital Soil Map of the World (DSMW) CD-Rom (Version 3.5, November 1995) is based on the FAO/UNESCO Soil Map of the World, original scale 1:5 000 000. The CD-Rom contains two types of files, DSMW map sheets and derived soil properties files with images of soil characteristics such as pH, Soil moisture storage capacity, Organic carbon content, derived from the Soil Map of the World information.
For further technical details, send an E-mail to Freddy.Nachtergaele@FAO.ORG
For acquisition, send an E-mail to Publications-sales@FAO.ORG
Training Manual No 9 : " Drainage of irrigated land", prepared by FAO and ILRI (International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement) is now available. It discusses the need for drainage in irrigated areas, focusing on drainage at the farm level. It reviews the systems that are available to drain irrigated lands and explains which factors of soils and hydrology influence drainage. The manual touches briefly upon the design, construction, operation and management of field drainage systems.
For more information, send an E-mail to Juan.Sagardoy@FAO.ORG
For acquisition, send an E-mail to Publications-sales@FAO.ORG
The AQUASTAT programme has been initiated with the view of presenting a comprehensive picture of water resources and irrigation in developng countries. The survey relies mostly on country-based statistics and information contained in sector studies and master plans. The survey has beeen completed for Africa, and resulted in a bilingual publication, "Water Report 7: Irrigation in Africa in Figures / L'irrigation en Afrique en chiffres".
For acquisition of Water Report 7, send an E-mail to Publications-sales@FAO.ORG
For more information, comments and feed-back, send an E-mail to
JeanMarc.Faures@FAO.ORG
You can also visit our site at the following URLs:
Http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/agricult/agl/aglw/aquastat/aquastat.htm
Gopher://gopher.fao.org, choose "Information from the FAO", and
then "AQUASTAT"
The Land and Water Development Division has now its own site on the Web. It presents the mandate of AGL, the different Services and their activities, the list of all publications, our partners, and some computer programs which are available (CROPWAT, SIMIS).
Visit our site at the following URL:
Http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/agricult/agl/aglhomep.htm
For comments and feedback, send an E-mail to Jippe.Hoogeveen@FAO.ORG or
agl-webmaster@fao.org
Ecocrop (Crop environmental requirements database) is available as two separate programs: a) Ecocrop 1, which contains environmental adaptability information and b) Ecocrop 2 which contains environmental response information.
The information in Ecocrop 1 permits the identification of more than 1700 plant species whose most important climate and soil requirements match the information on soil and climate entered by the user. It also permits the identification of plant species for defined uses. It can be used as a library of crop environmental requirements and it can provide plant species attribute files on crop environmental requirements to be compared with soil and climate maps in AEZ and GIS. The present size of the database makes it one of the biggest data-collections on crop environmental requirements available. The program is distributed on two diskettes with an information folder, it will run on computers using MS-DOS ver. 2.1 or later operation system, with 640 K of Ram and at least 6 Mb of hard disk space.
The database in Ecocrop 2 is designed as a library of studies on crop responses in relation to environmental and management factors. The program is created to provide information for crop modelling and at the same time as a tool for scientists to organise and retrieve their own specific information on plant species of interest to them. At present the database holds information on a number of varieties for 20 crops of world-wide importance. Each crop file contains, on average, 200-220 separate crop environmental response studies or data sets extracted from 40-50 sources. After selecting certain environmental or management factors and crop responses, such as yield, biomass production or photosynthesis rate, of interest, the information contained in the database can be illustrated on the screen in the form of response curves or it can be written out in statistical form.
Ecocrop 1 is available on two diskettes with an information
folder, at a global price of 20 US$.
Ecocrop 2 is still only available as a test version.
Contact for acquisition: Publications-sales@FAO.ORG
Contact for technical requests and comments: Per.Diemer@FAO.ORG
An international conference on water policy will be held on
23-24 September at Cranfield University in the United Kingdom.
This conference is organized by Silsoe College, and is supported
by FAO. It will cover the following topics:
Water allocation;
Water resources;
Environment and water quality;
Water supply management;
Water economics;
Water politics;
Institutionnal issues;
and Water users.
For further information, or registration, contact:
Dr Peter Howsam (P.Howsam@cranfield.ac.uk)
Carolyn King (C.S.King@cranfield.ac.uk)
At this seminar, Mr Appelgren (AGLW, FAO) will present a paper
entitled "A management approach to national water scarcity".
This paper will reflect ongoing activities of the Water Service
of FAO, notably the compilation of FAO guidelines on water
scarcity management and on river basin management, and present
recent publications such as:
- FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 52 : " Reforming water
resources policy, a guide to methods, processes and
practices"
- the joint FAO/UNDP/World Bank publication : " Water sector
policy review and strategy formulation, a general framework" (FAO
Land and Water Bulletin 3).
To purchase these publications, send an E-mail to Publications-sales@FAO.ORG,
If you need more details about them, send an E-mail to Bo. Appelgren@FAO.ORG
Dirigentes de todo el mundo se reuniran del 13 al 17 de noviembre de 1996 en Roma para celebrar una Cumbre Mundial sobre la Alimentacion cuya finalidad es renovar el compromiso mundial en favor de la lucha contra el hambre. La FAO ha convocado la Cumbre para afrontar el hecho de que unos 800 millones de personas tienen hoy un acceso insuficiente a los alimentos. La Cumbre es tambien una respuesta a la reciente preocupacion por la capacidad de la agricultura para cubrir en el futuro las necesidades alimentarias.
En el cuadro de la Cumbre Mundial, la FAO ha preparado un cierto número de documentos tecnicos de referencia. Uno de ellos fue preparado por AGL y trata del rol determinante del agua en la produccion de alimentos. Mas abajo se encuentra un breve resumen de ese documento. La version completa del documento se puede consultar en Internet en al dirección siguiente: http://www.fao.org/wfs/final/s/volume2/t07a-s.htm
RESUMEN
A escala mundial, la disponibilidad de recursos de agua dulce
fácilmente accesible es limitada. En las regiones
áridas y semiáridas, en los países con una
alta densidad de población y en la mayor parte del mundo
industrializado, se ha comenzado ya a competir por los recursos
escasos de agua.
La agricultura de regadío, que es mucho más
productiva que la de secano, aporta casi un 40 por ciento de la
producción mundial de alimentos en el 17 por ciento de la
tierra cultivada. El aumento de la producción destinado a
satisfacer la demanda de alimentos del futuro debe obtenerse
básicamente mediante la intensificación, y no
mediante la expansión, de la agricultura. Sin embargo, a
medida que aumentan las necesidades de alimentos, se hace
más difícil suministrar más cantidad de agua
a los agricultores.
La disponibilidad de agua y la demanda mundial prevista indican
los problemas específicos de cada región.
Prácticamente, todos los países cuyo territorio es
árido en su mayor parte, como el Cercano Oriente y Africa
del Norte, son ya importadores netos de alimentos.
La mayor demanda de agua estimulará los esfuerzos
encaminados a crear nuevas fuentes de suministro y a utilizar los
ya existentes de forma más eficaz. Los sumistros de agua
existentes pueden utilizarse de forma más eficaz evitando
la evaporación improductiva y la contaminación y
salinización del agua.
El mundo está atravezando una era de rápido cambio.
El riego requiere condiciones macroeconómicas justas, y en
este sentido se han hecho progresos considerables. Se ha revisado
la política hidrológica que ha provocado las
asignaciones erróneas y el despilfarro del pasado, y la
aplicación de una normativa idónea se ve favorecida
por un entorno propicio y una legislación adecuada cuya
observancia está garantizada. Se admite la importancia de
que los futuros beneficiarios participen en el diseño y
ejecución de los nuevos proyectos, así como la
necesidad de que los diseñoas de los proyectos sean
realistas y sencillos.
La regulación de las aguas tiende a proteger la
producción agrícola de las variaciones
climatológicas, garantizando un suministro de alimentos
más estable. Por consiguiente, el aprovechamiento de los
recursos hídricos para la producción de alimentos
constituye un elemento importante para aumentar la seguridad
alimentaria.
Les dirigeants mondiaux se réuniront à Rome du 13 au 17 novembre 1996 pour un Sommet mondial de l'alimentation visant à susciter un nouvel engagement de la communauté internationale dans la lutte contre la faim. La FAO a décidé d'organiser ce Sommet car aujourd'hui quelques 800 millions de personnes souffrent de malnutrition chronique. Le Sommet répond également à une inquiétude croissante concernant la capacité de l'agriculture à satisfaire les besoins alimentaires futurs de l'humanité.
Dans le cadre de ce sommet, la FAO a préparé un certain nombre de documents techniques de référence. L'un d'entre eux a été préparé par AGL et traite du rôle déterminant de l'eau dans la production alimentaire. Vous trouverez ci après un très bref résumé de ce document. Vous pouvez aussi consulter la version intégrale du document à l'adresse Internet suivante: http://www.fao.org/wfs/final/f/volume2/t07a-f.htm
RESUME
Les ressources mondiales en eau douce facilement accessible
sont limitées. Dans les régions arides et
semi-arides, dans les pays très densément
peuplés et dans la plupart des pays industrialisés,
la compétition pour l'accès à la ressource
en eau, denrée en voie de raréfaction, a
déjà commencé.
L'agriculture irriguée, beaucoup plus productive que
l'agriculture pluviale, assure près de 40 % de la
production vivrière mondiale, sur 17% des terres
cultivées. L'accroissement de la production qui permettra
de satisfaire la demande alimentaire doit venir en grande partie
de l'intensification de l'agriculture et non pas de l'expansion
des terres agricoles. Cependant, au fur et à mesure que
les besoins alimentaires augmentent, il devient de plus en plus
difficile de fournir davantage d'eau aux agriculteurs.
Un tour d'horizon des disponibilités en eau et de la
demande prévue dans le monde révèle les
préoccupations propres a chaque région. Presque
tous les pays dont le territoire est à prédominance
aride, comme ceux de l'Afrique du Nord ou du Moyen Orient sont
déjà importateurs nets de produits
alimentaires.
L'intensification de la demande en eau va stimuler les efforts de
mise en valeur de nouvelles sources d'eau et d'utilisation
efficace des disponibilités existantes, notamment par la
réduction de l'évaporation inutile et la
prévention de la pollution et de la salinisation des
terres. Le monde d'aujourd'hui connaît une évolution
rapide. L'irrigation nécessite un environnement
macro-économique équitable, et de grands
progrès ont été faits en ce domaine. Les
politiques de l'eau source de mauvaise répartition et de
gaspillage ont été revues et la mise en oeuvre des
nouvelles politiques est favorisée par un contexte propice
et une législation adaptée. Concevoir des projets
de manière simple et réaliste, associer les
bénéficiaires du projet dès la conception et
la mise en oeuvre de ces projets sont reconnus aujourd'hui comme
des nécessités.
L'insuffisance et l'instabilité des approvisionnements
alimentaires ont un coût social et financier
élevé, qui s'alourdit d'année en
année. Un approvisionnement stable et suffisant en vivres
pour la sécurité alimentaire dépend d'un
certain nombre de mesures complémentaires. Ainsi la
maîtrise de l'eau permet de concrétiser les gains de
production dus aux variétés à haut rendement
et à l'amélioration des façons culturales.
La maîtrise de l'eau cherche aussi à protéger
la production agricole des aléas climatiques,
conférant une plus grande stabilité aux
approvisionnements alimentaires. La mise en valeur des ressources
en eau pour la production vivrière peut donc jouer un
rôle fondamental dans le renforcement de la
sécurité alimentaire.
From 13 to 17 November, World leaders will assemble in Rome for a World Food Summit aimed at renewing global commitment to the fight against hunger. FAO has called the Summit in response to widespread undernutrition and growing concern about the capacity of agriculture to meet future food needs.
In view of this Summit, FAO has prepared technical background documents, one of them dealing with the critical role of water in food production. You will find below the executive summary of this paper. You can also have the whole document at the following URL: http://www.fao.org/wfs/final/e/volume2/t07a1-e.htm
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The supply of easily accessible freshwater resources is
globally limited. Taking into account that not all water can be
abstracted but a part of surface waters must be left in the
rivers to safeguard the environment, over one-half of accessible
runoff is already committed. In arid and semi-arid regions, in
densely populated countries and in most of the industrialised
world, competition for scarce water resources has set in. In
major food-producing regions, scarcity of irrigation water is
spreading. In the light of demographic and economic projections,
the freshwater resources not yet committed are a strategic asset
for development, food security, the health of the aquatic
environment and, in some cases, national security. Water cannot
be substituted for many of its functions: as drinking-water for
human beings and animals; for hygiene, washing, sanitation and
municipal use; for industrial processes; and for fish, aquatic
life and the environment. Production of biomass, including food,
is dependent on the availability of adequate moisture in the
soil. The intensive agronomic technology that has allowed steady
increases in world food production, based on high-yielding
varieties, coupled with the application of fertilisers and
effective means of pest control, is largely dependent on
irrigation to secure and control soil moisture in the face of
insufficient and unreliable rainfall. Yet irrigated agriculture
is a highly water-intensive activity. It claims nearly 70 percent
of world water abstraction: over 90 percent in agricultural
economies in the arid and semi-arid tropics, but less than 40
percent in industrial economies in the humid temperate
regions.
Irrigated agriculture, which is much more productive than
rain-fed agriculture, contributes nearly 40 percent of world food
production on 17 percent of cultivated land. Increased production
to satisfy the food demand of the future must essentially come
from intensification, not from expansion of agriculture. Both
rain-fed and irrigated agriculture will need to be intensified,
but the intensification potential of irrigated agriculture is
much higher. Some authors indicate that 80 percent of additional
food production will come from irrigated agriculture.
However, as food needs rise, it is becoming increasingly
difficult to supply more water to farmers. Taking industrial and
municipal use, water losses and instream flow requirements into
account, overall water requirements by the year 2025 appear to
overcommit all accessible runoff by some 5 percent. The figures
underlying this analysis - the respective contributions of
irrigated and rain-fed agriculture, the amount of water required
to produce the food needed for human diets and instream flow
requirements - may be subject to different interpretations.
However, it is clear that human demands are about to collide with
the ability of the hydrological cycle to supply water. Water is
becoming globally scarce. The fundamental resource constraint
will have an effect on the cost of food.
A world-wide overview of water supply and projected demand flags
specific concern of the regions. Virtually all countries with a
mainly arid territory, such as those in the Near East and North
Africa, are already net food importers. The priority for water
use in these countries will be to secure adequate water for
cities and for a healthy economy in the industrial and services
sectors, in order to earn the income required for food imports.
Because of the scarcity value of water, these regions will not be
able to harbour water-intensive industries. The agricultural
sector in water-scarce arid countries is bound to rely more and
more on waste water freed by cities and to specialise in
producing crops that yield the highest revenue, such as fresh
vegetables and fruits. Food security in these countries will be
closely tied to the solidity of the trading position anchored in
a context of regional stability and collective security.
The amount of fresh water currently available per person per year
in major Asian countries (e.g. China, 2 300 m3; India, 2 000 m3)
is fairly close to the amount of water needed to produce the food
requirement per person per year (2 000 m3 for a balanced diet
with meat). As population and the diversity of the Asian diet
increase and the scope for irrigation expansion and water
development narrows and intersectoral competition increases, some
major irrigation-using countries in Asia may even become net food
importers. Given that 60 percent of the world population lives in
Asia, this evolution has the potential to stress global food
markets in a serious way. The economic strength of a number of
countries in Asia is widely recognised, but it should not be
overlooked that large poverty pockets remain, particularly in
South Asia.
Africa, with the exception of the central Congo-Zaire basin, is
the driest continent (apart from Australia) and suffers from the
most unstable rainfall regime. Each year more people are at risk
from the effects of inevitable droughts of greater or lesser
severity. Furthermore, AfricaDRs water resources are relatively
less developed than those of other regions. Agricultural
productivity per caput in sub-Saharan Africa has not kept pace
with population increase, and the region is now in a worse
position nutritionally than it was 30 years ago: food production
has achieved a growth of about 2.5 percent per year, while
population has risen at the rate of over 3 percent per year.
Moreover, AfricaDRs ability to earn from exports in order to buy
food has not improved. In the past, additional food in Africa
came from increases in the area cultivated, but as good land
becomes less available, the region will be forced to intensify
production systems to increase yields. Water development in its
various forms, from water harvesting to modern piped irrigation,
is destined to make a major contribution to transforming the
efficiency and security of the African food supply.
As a continent, Latin America is well endowed with water,
although there are substantial intraregional differences. Water
problems in Latin America are mainly related to low water-use
efficiency, resource management, environmental degradation and
pollution control.
Intensified demand for water will stimulate efforts to develop
new water supplies and to use existing supplies in a more
efficient way. Increasing water supply is technically feasible
but expensive - the most attractive projects have already been
done. It is believed that the next generation of storage
reservoirs and water conveyance infrastructure, with a closer
management of the UHexternalitiesDH of the past such as equitable
treatment of people, accounting of environmental damage and full
recovery of investment, will cost several times more than the
past generation of water development structures. The technology
for desalting sea water has made tremendous advances, but wheat
produced with desalinated water will still cost five times as
much as the average world market prices. Various proven methods
for rainwater harvesting are available and have promise for
expanding supplies at low cost. Rehabilitation and protection of
upper catchments, necessary for many reasons, also yield a more
balanced hydrological regime and fewer sediments trapped in
reservoirs.
Existing water supplies can be used more effectively by
suppressing unproductive evaporation and preventing water
pollution and salinization. A number of measures are available
and are expected to yield increased food production with
unchanged, or even diminished, water available for agriculture.
At the level of the river basin, integrated (conjunctive) water
management, both structural and non-structural, can reduce water
losses from evaporation, pollution and salinization. At the
irrigation scheme and farm level, irrigation efficiency,
sometimes as low as 30 percent, can be substantially
increased.
Population growth, migration and urbanisation will continue to
have a significant impact on all aspects of development. These
changes will lead to improved infrastructure and marketing
systems reaching out to underdeveloped rural areas. Enlarged and
more reliable local food production, generated close to where it
is consumed, is more than an insurance against the risk of rising
prices. An increasingly efficient agriculture contributes to
overall development. Ways must be found to overcome the evident
opportunity costs and hardship generated by a growing gap between
food needs and local production.
How can the necessary water development take place in the face of
the general perception that water investments, particularly those
of irrigation, are ineffective, inefficient and a threat to the
environment? Such views are ill-informed. Prospects for water
harvesting and for small- and large-scale irrigation need fresh
appraisal. Many important lessons have been learned, and the
mistakes of the past need not be repeated. In fact, small- and
large-scale irrigation investments (avoiding the costly
approaches of the last 25 years) can yield returns that are
higher than those of other agricultural projects and close to
those of non-agricultural investments. Existing infrastructure
can be rehabilitated and modernised, and water management
improved. The positive linkages to the economy can be greater in
the case of water development than for other projects; indeed,
irrigation generates employment and in doing so attracts settlers
from the more fragile hilly and arid areas that are prone to
environmental degradation. Where appropriate, farmers should be
assisted in assuming ownership rights and management
responsibilities for assets developed by the public sector.
Without such developments there will be much reduced scope for
farmers (and consumers) to benefit from the array of existing
agricultural technologies.
The world is currently undergoing an era of rapid change.
Irrigation requires an equitable macroeconomic environment, and
there has been considerable progress in this regard. Water policy
that led to past misallocation and wastage has been reviewed and
its implementation supported by an enabling environment, with
adequate and properly enforced laws. The importance of including
the intended beneficiaries in the design and implementation of
new projects is now recognised, as is the need for realistic,
uncomplicated project designs. The institutional capacity of
governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the
private sector to work together is rapidly improving. A wide
array of water development technologies is now available, but
private and public investment funds are needed for their
implementation. The major challenge, however, is to build
capacity at all levels in order to achieve the efficient, highly
productive management of water needed to secure sustainable,
sufficient and low-priced food for the projected population.
An insufficient and unstable food supply has a high social and
financial cost to society, accumulated year after year. An
adequate and stable food supply for food security depends on a
number of complementary measures. Among these, water control
enables realisation of the production benefits deriving from
high-yielding varieties and improved cultural practices. Water
control also tends to shield agricultural production from the
vagaries of climate, ensuring a more stable food supply. Water
development for food production thus constitutes an important
element for increasing food security.
The FAO Irrigation and drainage paper 55 entitled "Control of water pollution from agriculture" is now available in English at the Publications and Sales Division (E-mail: Publications-sales@fao.org).
Short presentation:
Agricultural operations can contribute to water quality deterioration through the release of different materials into water: sediments, pesticides, animal manure, fertilizers and other sources of inorganic and organic matter. This "guidelines" document on control and management of agricultural water pollution aims at delineating the nature and consequences of agricultural impacts on water quality, and to provide a framework for practical measures to be undertaken by relevant professionals and decision-makers to control water pollution.
Contact for further information: Arumugam.Kandiah@fao.org
Le Bulletin FAO d'Irrigation et de Drainage numéro 44 est disponible en français depuis quelques jours à la Division de la Publication (E-mail: Publications-sales@fao.org). Il s'intitule: "Conception et optimisation des réseaux d'irrigation". Cet ouvrage correspond à la traduction en français du document d'irrigation et de drainage en anglais intitulé "Design and optimization of irrigation distribution networks" paru en 1988.
Présentation sommaire:
La FAO s'est penchée, avec des spécialistes de premier rang, dans les techniques d'optimisation afin de passer en revue les différentes approches pour les condenser en une publication utilitaire pour l'irrigation. Le but a été de fournir une procédure reconnue pour des applications pratiques pouvant aider les ingénieurs confrontés à des problèmes d'optimisation. Les trois premiers chapitres traitent de la conception des projets d'irrigation, la partie hydraulique et l'économie. Les chapitres 4 et 5 traitent des outils disponibles pour l'optimisation. Le chapitre 6 est limité à quelques considérations spéciales.
Pour plus d'informations, contactez: Juan.Sagardoy@fao.org
A regional workshop on Agro-ecological Zones (AEZ) and Land Resources Information Systems (LRIS) applications in Latin America and the Caribbean took place in Santiago, Chile, from 30 September to 5 October 1996. The workshop was organized by AGL in collaboration with the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Japan-funded Regional LRIS Project GCP/RLA/126/JPN. About 50 participants from 20 countries attended the workshop.
This was the second workshop of this kind in the region. It was conceived as a follow-up to the first AEZ regional workshop, which was held in Santiago in 1992. The 1992 workshop was a training workshop which focused on teaching the AEZ methodology and software and the preparation and implementation of AEZ projects. As a result of that workshop various countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Bolivia, carried out AEZ projects with good results, and included different applications and skilled AEZ specialists. In this second workshop some of these specialists were engaged as resources persons through TCDC (Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries, a FAO programme which promotes the cooperation among developing countries).
The workshop focused on AEZ applications in Latin American and Caribbean countries, methods of preparation and techniques of diffusion of land resources information for practical use in field work using modern electronic communication tools. The workshop proposed the establishment of a regional network on AEZ/LRIS and Market Information with the objective of promoting future exchange of information, data, expertise and experiences in AEZ applications and on market opportunities in defined geographic areas in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Although there are limited financial resources, because of the relatively good existing communication infrastructures in several countries/institutions it was recommended that a start be made with an informal AEZ network, with Brazil as a host country and involving the FAO AGL Internet Home Page, the Regional Office in Santiago and the Regional LRIS project.
More details can be obtained from : Jacques.Antoine@fao.org
Un taller sobre aplicaciones de Zonificación Agroecológica (ZAE) y Sistemas de Información de Recursos de Tierras (SIRT) en América Latina y El Caribe fue llevado a cabo en Santiago, Chile, dal 30 de Septiembre al 5 de Octubre 1996. El taller fue organizado por AGL en colaboración con la Oficina Regional para América Latina y El Caribe y el proyecto Regional GCP/RLA/126/JPN. Alrededor de 50 personas de 20 países participaron en la reunión.
Esta fue la segunda reunión sobre el tema en la Región. Fue preparada como seguimiento al primer grupo de trabajo sobre ZAE realizado también en Santiago, Chile en 1992. En esa oportunidad, la reunión fue mas bien de entrenamiento centrándose en la enseñanza de la metodología de ZAE y los paquetes informáticos respectivos y en la ejecución de proyectos sobre ZAE. Como resultado de esta reunión, varios países como Argentina, Brasil, Colombia, México y Bolivia ejecutaron proyectos de ZAE con éxito, utilizando diferentes aplicaciones y especialistas sobre ZAE. En este segundo grupo de trabajo, estos especialistas participaron como personal técnico de apoyo a través del programa CTPD.
El taller se concentró en las aplicaciones de la ZAE en los países de América Latina y El Caribe, en los métodos de preparación y las técnicas de difusión de información sobre recursos de tierras para uso práctico en el trabajo de campo utilizando herramientas de comunicación electrónicas y modernas. La reunión propuso el establecimiento de una red regional sobre ZAE/SIRT e Información de Mercados con el propósito de promover en el futuro inmediato, el intercambio de información, datos, capacidad técnica y experiencias sobre estos temas en áreas geográficas definidas de América Latina y El Caribe.
En vista de los limitados recursos financieros y de infraestructuras de comunicación relativamente adecuadas existentes en muchos países/instituciones, se recomendó empezar con una red sobre ZAE informal, teniendo a Brasil como país anfitrión con la participación de la Dirección de Fomento de Tierras y Aguas (FAO, AGL, Internet Home Page), de la Oficina Regional para América Latina y El Caribe en Santiago, Chile y del proyecto Regional GCP/RLA/126/JPN.
Para mayor informacion dirigirse a : Jacques.Antoine@fao.org